How to send self-destructing emails from Gmail for free

It’s easy to forget what a mess email was before Google came along, but Gmail completely changed the email landscape. The product offered a simple user interface, tons of storage, and it was completely free. Google has added plenty of features since Gmail first debuted, but there are still a number of nifty things Gmail can’t do on its own.

Google’s apps and services are enhanced by a huge community of third-party developers who independently create apps and extensions that help add functionality to Google’s products. And just like Google’s apps and services themselves, these third-party offerings are often free.

Such is the case with Dmail, a new Chrome extension that adds a terrific new capability to Google’s popular email service: Self-destructing emails.

Installing this Chrome extension adds a new button to your compose box on the Gmail site. Clicking this “Send with Dmail” button will not only encrypt your message, it will give you the ability to revoke access to the email remotely at any time, or to revoke access automatically, thus creating a “self-destructing” email that your recipient can only read for a predefined amount to time.

Dmail is completely free right now as an open beta, though the developer behind the app does have paid tiers planned in the future.